On June 7, the Pakistani cabinet approved the energy-saving plan, which stipulates that the working hours per week will be reduced from 6 to 5 days to reduce energy consumption
According to a Reuters report on June 7, Pakistan is experiencing economic difficulties, the rupee has hit a record low against the dollar, and the soaring global energy prices caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has exacerbated Pakistan’s balance of payments pressure. In addition, the weather in Pakistan is hot right now, with the temperature rising to 50 ℃ in some areas last month. Due to these factors, some cities in Pakistan experienced power outages of up to 4 to 6 hours last month, and the daily power outage in rural areas was more than 8 hours.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Mariyum Aurangzeb pointed out at a press conference on the 7th that Pakistan is facing a “serious crisis” and urgently needs to take energy-saving measures and use every option to save energy.
Aurangzeb said the Pakistani government’s energy-saving plan also includes setting up a committee to formulate plans for all government and semi-official offices to work from home on Friday and to close shopping malls early, according to Dawn and Reuters reports. In addition, Pakistan has banned government officials from “unnecessary” travel abroad, restricted vehicle purchases at the government level, and cut official fuel subsidies originally granted to government employees by 40 percent.
“Dawn” Pakistani news outlet reported that the Pakistani government is determined to adopt a series of measures to reduce the consumption of public utilities at the government level and office premises by 10%.
Aurangzeb also said that Pakistan’s current power supply is 21,000 megawatts, while the demand has reached 25,600 megawatts. Returning to the five-day workday will save $386 million a year
According to Reuters, after Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif took office in April this year, for the purpose of improving productivity, the working week was extended from five to six days, with only Sundays off. However, the longer working week also brings the problem of increased energy consumption in the workplace. Shahbaz blamed the mismanagement of former Prime Minister Imran Khan for Pakistan’s ongoing energy crisis.
